Air cooling, washing, and humidifying apparatus



TUS

E. F. FISHER March 3, 1936.

AIR COOLING, WASHING, AND HUMIDIFYING APPARA Filed June 3, 1935 lm/ewroeERA/57 F. FISHER Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICE AIRCOOLING, WASHING, AND HUMIDIFY- lNG APPARATUS My invention has relationto improvements in cooling and air-conditioning apparatus, and'consistsin the novel features of construction more fully set forth in thespecification and pointed out in the claims.

The invent-ion embodies a suitable casing through which water or brinethat has previously been cooled by refrigeration is sprayed, saidcooling medium also serving to impel air through the casing whereby saidair is washed and the temp rature thereof lowered.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a comparativelysimple apparatus for cooling air for subsequent circulation throughliving rooms, meat coolers, or in any other space in which it is desiredto have washed and humidified cool air. A further object is to providean apparatus for efliciently cooling air that may be manufactured at lowcost and that does not require expensive machinery for its operation.These objects, as well as other advantages inherent in the invention,will be apparent from a detailed description of the same in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved cooling apparatus with partsof the outer casing broken away; Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof; Fig. 3 isa vertical, transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4is a vertical, transverse section through the casing of a modified formof the invention; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal crosssectional detail takenon the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing (and for the present, Figs. '1 to 3,inclusive), I represents a substantially rectangular sheet metal casingin which there are a row of conical tubes 2, 2 extending downwardly fromthe closed top 3 of the casing to within a short distance of the bottom4 thereof. It will be observed that the tubes 2 taper downwardly towithin a short distance of their lower ends which are provided withoppositely tapered portions 2' forming a constricted throat 5. Thechamber 0 within the casing is entirely closed in except for the airoutlets 6, 6 provided in one of the side walls of casing I. A pipe 1extends lengthwise of the casing l above the same and is provided with aseries of nozzles 8, 8, etc., arranged centrally above the tubes 2 so asto discharge water or other cooling medium into said tubes.

60 A drain pipe 9 leads from the bottom 4 of the casing I, through whichthe cooling medium flows out of the casing l.

The operation of the cooling apparatus is as follows:

65 The casing l (comprising a unit of the cooling system) is placedwithin the space to be cooled and cool water or refrigerated brine iscaused to flow through the pipe 1, from the nozzles 8 of which thecooling medium discharges in the form of a spray, completely filling theupper part of the 5 tube 2. The falling of a liquid spray downwardlythrough the tube 2 causes the injection of air into the tube in the opentop thereof. The gradual reduction of the area of the tube 2 causes anincrease in the velocity of descending water and 1 entrained air, whichvelocity reaches a maximum at the constricted throat 5. This velocity ofcourse is converted into pressure with the discharge of the water andentrained air by the flaring mouth 2'. This air pressure is maintained 5in the bottom of the chamber C by the continually descending column ofair and water through the tube 2.

The air pressure maintained within the chamber C of course causes acontinual outflow of air 20 from the outlets 6, 6 into the space that isbeing cooled. One of the advantages of my invention is that the air isnot only cooled by contact with the liquid cooling medium, but isfurther cooled by contact with the outside surfaces of the tubes 25 2 sothat a comparatively high cooling efllciency is obtained.

In Figures 4 and 5 I show a modification of the invention wherein adiffusion cone I0 is disposed below the widely flaring mouth ll of thetube i2, 30 said cone l0 projecting upwardly into the mouth ll of thetube. In the annular space l3 between the cone and the wall I4 I providea series of equally spaced radially disposed vanes IS. The purpose ofthe diffusion cone is to cause the air 5 to spread throughout the entirelower part of the casing I, the vanes I5 serving to prevent theformation of currents, thereby facilitating the maintaining of an airpressure in the lower part of the chamber C. The diffusion cone [0 and40 the vanes l5 also serve to break down the water spraycausing cohesionof the fine particles into larger drops of water so that there will beno water spray carried upwardly through the casing I to the outlet 6'with the air.

. It is thus apparent that during the operation of my cooling apparatusthe velocity of the air caused by the downward rush of the coolingmedium through the tube 2 is converted into com pressed air in the lowerpart of the chamber C from which the air moves upwardly to continuallydischarge from the outlets 6 or 6'. Obviously the outlets 6 or 6 may belocated at any height on the casing l or I.

Of course, any suitable source of cooling medium may be used from whichit may be pumped into the pipe 1 and a pump may be likewise provided tofacilitate the draining of the accumulated cooling medium in the lowerpart of the casing l.

The air issues from the outlets 6 under considerable velocity owing tothe pressure within the casing I so that circulation thereof within thespace being cooled does not depend upon the difference of temperaturebetween thecooling air and the air within the space cooled. A positivecirculation of air is maintained with the coldest air introduced at theupper level of the room. Of course this cooled air displaces warm air below it and produces a positive circulation since the inlets to thecooling casing l are at the top thereof.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A cooling unit comprising an air-tight casing, a vertically disposedtube within said casing, said tube having its upper end open to theatmosphere and its lower end provided with a conical mouth and openinginto the lower part of said casing, a cone-shaped member positionedconcentrically with the conical mouth of the tube and spaced from thewall thereof, a series of radially disposed vanes between said conicalmember and the wall of the conical mouth, a liquid spray nozzlepositioned above the tube for discharging a liquid cooling mediumdownwardly therethrough, means for withdrawing the cooling medium fromthe casing, and said casing having outlets for the air entrained by thecooling medium.

2. A cooling unit comprising an air-tight casing, a vertically disposedtube disposed within said casing, said tube being tapered so thecrosssectional area thereof gradually decreases toward; the lower endthereof, the upper end of said tube being open to the atmosphere, aliquid spray nozzlepositioned above the tube for discharging a liquidcooling medium downwardly therethrough, means for withdrawing thecooling medium from the casing, and said casing having outlets for theair entrained by the cooling medium.

3. A cooling unit comprising an air-tight casing, a vertically disposedtube disposed within said casing, said tube being tapered so thecrosssectional area thereof gradually decreases toward the lower endthereof, the upper end of said tube being open to the atmosphere, aconeshaped member positioned below said tube and having its apex withinthe tube, a series of radially disposed vanes between said cone-shapedmember and the wall of the tube, a liquid spray nozzle positioned abovethe tube for discharging a liquid cooling medium" downwardlytherethrough, means for withdrawing the cooling medium from the casing,and said casing having outlets for the air entrained by the coolingmedium.

4. A cooling unit comprising an air-tight casing, a vertically disposeddownwardly tapering tube within said casing, said tube having its upperend open to the atmosphere and its lower end provided with an outwardlyflaring mouth and opening into the lower part of said casing, acone-shaped member positioned concentrically with the'conical mouth ofthe tube and spaced from the wall thereof, a series of radially disposedvanes between said conical member and the wall of the conical mouth, aliquid spray nozzle positioned above the tube for discharging a liquidcooling medium downwardly therethrough, means for withdrawing thecooling medium from the casing, and said casing having outlets for theair entrained by the cooling medium.

5. A cooling unit comprising an air-tight casing, a vertically disposedtube communicating with said casing, said tube being tapered so that thecross-sectional area thereof gradually decreases towardthe lower end,the upper end of said tube being open to the atmosphere and the lowerend having an outwardly flaring conical mouth discharging into saidcasing, a liquid spray nozzle positioned above the tube for discharginga liquid cooling medium downwardly therethrough, means for withdrawingthe cooling medium from the casing, and said casing having outlets forthe air entrained by the cooling medium.

ERNEST F. FISHER.

